Principal’s Message

Grande Prairie Catholic School District #28

2015

May Kodiak Chronicles St. Thomas More School Phone: 780-835-2245, Fax: 780-835-4700 Box 2245 Website: stm.gpcsd.ca Fairview AB email: stm@gpcsd.ca TOH 1L0 Facebook: St. Thomas More School, Fairview

Inside this issue:

Principal Message

1

Fr. Nel & Reconciliation /

Confirmation

2 & 3

Calendar/ Habitat Key Ceremony

4 & 5

Information/ Chemistry 20 Class

6 & 7

Discontinuation of Superinten-

dent's Scholarship/ PAT & DIP

Exam Schedule

8 & 9

Cyber Bully Safety

10 &

11

Cyber Bully Safety/ Hat on for

Mental Health

12 &

13

May is a time to start looking back at the year and thinking about where we’ve been, what we’ve

done, and how much we have learned. Students in Grades 6 and 9 begin writing their Provincial

Achievement Tests in May, and all of our students and teachers are getting ready for the upcoming

final exams in June. Please help your child prepare to do their best in these crucial final months - as

the days lengthen and the weather improves it can become too easy to become distracted!

We have started some initial planning for the next school year. Our Kindergarten Open House on

April 21 had several parents attending to learn about St. Thomas More School and register their child

for next fall. Registration packages can be picked up at the office for any parents looking at enrolling

their child here! High School Redesign will be introduced next fall, with an information session to be

held later this month. Orientation meetings for Junior High and Senior High are coming up; they

will give our students and parents a chance to see what is being offered next year, and give an oppor-

tunity for feedback. We hope to see you there!

As you will see on the calendar, the month is packed. Our Grade 6s are organizing Student Vote

2015, engaging awareness about our upcoming election. Please show your support and vote in our

Provincial Election on May 5. May 6 is Hats On! For Mental Health. Students are encouraged to

wear hats in support of those dealing with Mental Health issues. On May 7, we wear green in sup-

port of National Child and Youth Mental Health. Mrs. Kramer, our Family Liaison worker will gath-

er us as a whole student body to share information regarding this important event.

May is also the month of Declamation. Students in grade 1 to 4 have been learning and reciting po-

ems, while grade 5 and 6 students have been writing speeches to present to their classes. On Mon-

day, May 11 we will host our school Declamation contest with the winners competing in the District

Declamation Contest. We are pleased to be hosting this event, which will take place on Thursday,

May 21 at 7:00 pm in our school gymnasium.

May is the month of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In addition, to our monthly school mass, we will

gather as a faith community to say the Rosary in honor of Mary.

We have several field trips planned this month; Grade 12s will be attending their Grad retreat, Grade

9s have the PARTY program (Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth), Grade 6s have their

School Patrol Wind-Up Celebration in Grande Prairie, Grade 1s are going to Dunvegan and Kinder-

gartens are going to Cummings Lake!!! Any parents wanting to help with these events are asked to

contact the office.

Our athletic season winds down this month with Jr. High Badminton zones on May 2, Grade 5/6

Mini-Basketball Slam Jam on May 9 and Jr/Sr High Track Zones on May 29 & 30. We would like to

thank all our coaches and staff liaisons who supported our Athletic program this year. Your help is

greatly appreciated by staff and students.

The end is in sight, but there is a lot of school left ahead of us! God bless!

Paulette Goodall & Michelel Allen

Faith Reflection Fr. Nel

My name is Cornelio P. Esguerra Jr. But I'm mostly known as Fr. Nel. I was born and raised in the Philippines and I come from a big family. I'm the youngest of the 12 children! That's how big my family is! I can say that I come from a devout catholic family, that's why I had an idea and desire for priesthood even at an early age. I became more interested to become a priest when I became an altar server in my younger years. Then I was given the opportunity to discern and consider entering the seminary when I entered a catholic high school. After finishing a bachelor's degree in philosophy and mass communications in college seminary, I took a couple of years off from the seminary and became a teacher. Realiz-ing that I really want to become a priest, I returned to seminary life and finished my masters degree in theology. When I finished my theology studies, I took a year of nursing aid course as part of my clinical pastoral ex-posure. Through the influence and encouragement of the people in my previous religious congregation, I came to know about the need of foreign priests in the archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan, so I gave it a try if I can be of help in this diocese as an ordained priest. Our good archbishop Gerard Pettipas made that possible when he accepted and ordained me as a priest for this diocese. I'm humbled and so grateful for the gift of priesthood for I get to be part of everyone's life in the church community. Especial- ly in the administering of the sacraments to the peo- ple. I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends. I love my visits in the lodge, hos-pital, long term care and most especially in the school where I get the chance to play and mingle with energetic and cool kids. Arts and creative activities have a special place in my heart. I love to sing and dance and learn new stuffs. I value so much my membership to the inter ministerial associa-tion in Fairview and I respect and admire the dedicated leaders from other churches. Lastly, I'm so honored and grateful that I was accepted as a firefighter volunteer again in Fairview. I believe it's my second vocation! People in this department are an inspiration to me too. They are one of my driving forces that I remain enthusiastic in my priestly vocations. They add fire to the flames burning in my heart to serve to the fullest. If there's a "girl on fire" in a song. I think I can sing "this priest is on fire" then! On fire to serve to the fullest! Sincerely, Fr. Nel

Page 3 May

These are the grade 2 students that received the

Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday, April 23rd

Jack Cook

Zikachimidi Dikeukwu

Olivia Heck

Jocelyn Kramer

Katherine Luken

Darby Peppler

Connor Shannon

Congratulations

Arch Bishop Pettipas and Fr. Nel are pictured below with the stu-

dents who celebrated their Confirmation on Sunday, April.26th

Page 4

May 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 1st Holy

Communion,

10am

4 Student Vote

Gr 4-12

5 6 Hats on for Men-

tal Health

Alberta Opera,

Elementary

7 National Child &

Youth Mental

Health Day..

WEAR GREEN

8 Kindergarten

Field trip to

Cummings Lake

9

Slam Jam

Tournament

10

11 School Declama-

tion, 1pm

12 13 14 15 NO SCHOOL–

Day off in lieu of

PTI’s

16

17 18 NO SCHOOL–

Victoria Day

19 Grade 1s going to

Dunvegan

20 Gr 6 Patrol Party

in GP

Grad Retreat

21 Mass, 9am

District Declama-

tion, 7pm

22 Kindergarten

Field trip to

Cummings Lake

23

24 25 NO SCHOOL–

PD DAY

26 27 P.A.R.T.Y

Program, gr 9

28 29 JR/SR Track &

Field Zones

30

31

Page 5

Habitat Home Key Ceremony

On Monday, April.13th, representatives from Habitat for Humanity

and students attended the official ceremony at 11 AM where keys

were given to a home for a family in need. Students Jennifer Verbicky

(Grade 5) and Madison French (Grade 6) officially presented the keys

to the family. In attendance were various community members, stu-

dents of St. Thomas More, Habitat for Humanity representatives and

various provincial media.

Page 6

St Thomas More Parish Garage

Sale and Bake Sale

The annual garage sale will be on

Wednesday, May. 27th & Thursday,

May. 28th in the Parish hall. Do-

nation of items for the garage sale

can be dropped off at the church

beginning May 19th, and baking

on May. 26th for the sale the next

day.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lost and Found

Please please please come

check the lost and found!!!!!

There are A LOT of items . If

not claimed these items will

be donated to Crossroads.

_______________________________________________________________

Microwave Use

In elementary, the grade 4, 5 & 6 are the

ONLY classes allowed to use the micro-

waves.. Grade 1, 2 & 3 please do not bring

any food that needs to be microwaved.

Thank-you for your support

Fairview Fine Art Center

Saturday, May 2 from 2:00-4:00 in the Fairview Fine Arts Centre we will be hosting a "gala" show opening, com-plete with goodies and punch!! Par-ents, family, friends and staff are all welcome to attend the event.

Pagte 7

Highway Clean-up

Calling all students in grades 4-12

Saturday May 2nd

Please meet at the school by 8:30am

Lunch is provided

Any questions please contact the school

In the event of inclement weather, Alberta

transportation may postpone the clean-up

to the following weekend (May.9th)

2015 Slam Jam

The mini-basketball tourna-

ment will be held on Saturday

May. 9th, at EEO School.

Guaranteed to be some great

basketball action !!!

‘Chemistry 20 students, have been studying solutions. Mathieu and Reid observed some spectacu-lar flame colors emitted by different metallic ions!’

PAT’s Schedule for ST Thomas More

2015

May. 11th - Gr 9 Language Arts PART A

May. 13th— Gr 6 Language Arts PART A

June. 17th - Gr 6 Language Arts PART B

June. 18th – Gr 6 Math

June. 19th – Gr 6 Science

June. 22nd - Gr 6 Social Studies

- Gr 9 Social Studies

June.23rd – Gr 9 Science

June.24th – Gr 9 Math

June.25th – Gr 9 Language Arts PART B

Diploma Exam Schedule for ST Thomas

More June 2015

June.12th- English 30-1 PART A

- English 30-2 PART A

June.17th- English 30-1 PART B

- English 30-2 PART B

June.25th- Physics 30

The exam schedule for June will be sent

home shortly.

Ukraine Presentation

The grade 3 class entertained the entire

school , along with family members with

a Ukrainian Dance Presentation. The

Ukraine was a topic they were learning

about in class. They practiced and prac-

ticed for weeks.

After the dance presentation, they invited

their families and had a potluck of yummy

Ukrainian food.

Page 10

Page 11

Page 12

Mental Health Matters Wednesday, May 6th is Hats On! for Mental Health 2015 = Wear a Hat Day

On May 6, 2015, Albertans are invited to wear a hat to raise awareness of the importance of good

mental health. Participating schools will relax their hat rules and encourage students and teachers to

build understanding by wearing hats to school. Students may also participate in a coordinated lesson

on understanding mental health and the importance of removing the stigma associated with mental

illnesses.

Thursday, May 7th is National Child & Youth Mental Health Day 2015 = Wear

GREEN Day

This national awareness day, led by the Institute of Families in cooperation with partners across the

country, seeks to help create public awareness and acknowledgement of the thousands of children,

youth and families needing mental health support and care across Canada.

They are building on the 'I care about you' message of past years and have added 'Sharing the Care'

this year to encourage people to come together to support the mental wellness of children and youth

and decrease the burden and stigma through our collective efforts.

Why Wear Green?

In the 1800s, the colour green was used to brand people who were labeled “insane”. The children’s

mental health community decided to continue using the colour green, but with a completely different

focus.

Green signifies new life, new growth and new beginnings. Therefore, we wear green ribbons to raise

public awareness and support the mental health of all children, youth and their families.